How to Earn the Amplification of Influencers - Whiteboard&nbspFriday

The author's views are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.

Marketing your products or services can be incredibly difficult when your target audience isn't already listening to what you have to say. In those cases, influencers have an amazing ability to amplify your message and boost your brand. The only problem? They're (rightfully) quite picky about what they share.

In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares his tips for winning them over—an algorithm of sorts, to help you rank higher on the list of their priorities.

For reference, here's a still of this week's whiteboard!

Video Transcription

Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Today I'm going to talk a little bit about influencer marketing in particular. I know I've heard skepticism from many marketers, especially sort of hardcore SEO folks who are going, "Well, influencer marketing through things like Twitter or Facebook or Google+ or outreach, these kinds of things, is this really necessary? Why am I doing it? My customers are not necessarily on these platforms. They are not necessarily influencers. What's the point?"

I'll try and walk you through that.

So first off, your target customers do exist somewhere, and they might be very hard to access. They could be not on any social networks, and even if they are on social networks, they might not follow you on those places. They're not subscribed to your blog or to the places where you guest post articles or the places that are mentioning you right now. But, and this is a big one, they do have ways of getting information. They have ways that they're learning about whatever professional or personal interests they have, and that usually leads into some form of influencer.

Now, even before the Internet existed there were journalists and writers and thought leaders, and those have continued in the web era and certainly have evolved dramatically and become a much bigger field in the era of social media. But these influencers, these people who write for big publications, own their own properties, have a big following, they're almost certainly directly or indirectly influencing this group of customers that you're trying to reach. You need only figure out who they are and how to reach them.

The interesting thing about influencers is they need new, unique content to share all the time. All the time, every day influencers wake up, and they're thinking to themselves, "Gosh, what is it that I'm going to share today? How am I going to continually grow my brand and add value to my audience and be on the leading edge? Because if I'm not, I'm losing out in relevance to someone who is building that audience."

These folks definitely, to almost 100% definitely use social media. At the very least, they're using Twitter, which is sort of an interesting one because Twitter is used, according to the latest Pew Research, by only around 19% or 20% of online Americans. But for the influencers group, it's 99 out of 100, and the reason being because Twitter is really a platform for influencing, growing influence, gaining that thought leadership and authority.

So even folks who are very old school, sort of old media folks, they have Twitter accounts, and they are using them. They do use other networks, things like Facebook. Certainly Pinterest has some following there, networks like Google+. But Twitter is sort of the primary one, which is interesting because Facebook, of course, is much bigger than Twitter in terms of your general population.

These influencers have two special powers. Number one, they can amplify social reach to your audience. Meaning, if you share something on a Twitter, a Facebook, a LinkedIn, a Google+, a Pinterest, a Reddit, a StumbleUpon, whatever network you might be using, the influencers on those networks have the ability to help amplify that reach. You might reach your audience of a few dozen or a few hundred. They'll help it reach thousands, many thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands or millions.

Secondarily, they can provide links, mentions, and other kinds of signals that search engines use to rank sites higher. Meaning that even in the rare case where your target audience is not following anyone, is not paying attention to any of these influencers and search is the only channel that they use to discover information, influencers can still help you by helping you achieve these signals that will help your site, your content, your pages rank better in search, which means your target customer will find them.

The trick is this is a very, very picky audience. Nine times out of ten, when they are exposed to content, they're going to go, "No. Not good enough. I don't know who this person is. I don't care about this. I'm not helping it go anywhere." So you have to get good at earning that amplification, and that starts with answering the question: Why? Why will influencers share your content, your post, your brand? Why? If you can't answer this question, all of this influencer targeting and marketing is going to become useless, because these people are incredibly picky.

There are a few big keys to this, and I've tried to enumerate them. Actually, I'm going to show it to you in an equation form. So essentially, the likelihood of earning an influencer's amplification is related to things like the personal connection that you have with them. That can be direct, which is often less likely. As a marketer working for especially a small and midsize brand, chances are that your direct connection to large groups of influencers might be small. But indirect connections work too, and this means if you know someone who knows them, if you can get a friendly introduction, much like you would to a potential investor or a business partner, that can open the door.

If your work makes them look good. You see a lot of influencers who share content and material that makes either themselves or their brand or company, if they work for a brand or company, look good. So those types of ego baiting can be successful at times. It's tough if it's too overt or too flashy or not credible enough. But it can work.

If the sharing that you're requesting that they do, the linking, the amplification of whatever kind can bring them large amounts of their own amplification. So if I say, "Hey, Seth Godin, I'd really love it if you shared this on your blog." I know that when Seth does share something on his blog, it will also go out to many, many people on Twitter and over other social networks. Well, if Seth believes that that's likely to earn his blog and his Twitter account a much larger audience, then he's more likely to say yes and to want to engage in that activity.

Third, if your work is their work. If your work is their work. Meaning, rather than simply saying, "Hey, I made this. What do you think of it," if you say, "Hey, can I get some data, some feedback, some material from you, and I'd like to transform it, modify it, turn it into something even more useful, valuable, interesting," now you have a real hook because they've contributed to that work. Surveys are obviously a great way to do this. Data collection is a great way to do this. There are many other forms too.

Then the last one, if your work provides credibility or additional support, either anecdotally or data-wise, for one of their goals or beliefs. These influencers are trying to accomplish things. They have beliefs that they share. They have goals that they're trying to accomplish professionally, usually, or personally, and if you have information that can help them, you can win.

So this is represented in the algorithm I've got here. Very, very simplistic algorithm. The likelihood is related to the relevance of your work to their audience, the value to their own personal brand, the opportunity they have to earn that extra amplification, the benefit to their goals or beliefs, plus some measure of the quality of the outreach you're actually doing times the personal relationship connection.

The better personal relationship connection you've got, the more mediocre it's okay for your outreach be. You can have a very simplistic message if it's coming directly to them and you're already friends in real life. It's easy, right? Somebody emails me and says, "Hey, Rand, can you share this," and it's my investor, Brad Feld, I'm going to be like, "Yes, I will do that for you." Of course I will. But if somebody cold emails me and I've never heard of them before, well it's very unlikely. So there's a relationship between these two that's special.

If you take this and you find these people and you're able to earn this additional amplification, your content of all kinds can do much more to reach your target customers.

All right, everyone, hope you've enjoyed this edition of Whiteboard Friday. We'll see you again next week. Take care.

Getting influence without asking the influencer is a craft in itself I feel, however it is so mega powerful. I've worked with the likes of Gartner and Forrester research in the past and putting it bluntly, their analysts are the influencers, your customers will listen to them before they even consider you. Why? Well it's a question of perceived neutrality on the customers part, they believe the analyst favours no one. Or the journalists writing on a particular topic and you are referred to in the article, once again the influence on readership is there (as long as it is not advertorial in nature that is). Common theme really the recipient of the content in what ever form it is feels in control and is not being coerced into a particular action.

Hans is what I would say in my line of business is a real influencer, with a massive global following. The report in question is delivered using my company's software. Do we have a relationship with Mr. Rosling? No we don't but we have commonality in the need to share health statistics. Does he actually refer to us in anyway, once again no but if people go to the report they will see the vehicle that was used to support the topic of discussion.

Totally agree Rand that if influence is a powerful tool and comes in many guises.

I would add one thought, which to basically forget about them being an influencer once you've identified them. As Gianluca says above they're a human first and foremost, and you should simply be trying to make a friend. If you have the "payback" in mind you'll not be making a friend but working towards that favour you're intending to ask, and, to be blunt, you'll mostly smell like someone working the conversation towards asking that favour!

So be genuine and you'll create a genuine connection and friendship, albeit on the social network only, and they will genuinely be interested in your links and work - the result can be far bigger and better...

Understanding the "human" side (or the "daily life" side) of an influencer is the possibly the best weapon someone may have in order to create a steady connection with that influencer.

If you know, for instance (and as a couple of years ago Wil Reynolds perfectly explained at Searchlove) the tastes and dislikes of the influencer you are targeting and the values he builds his/her life on, apart the details of what they like to share and the sites/people they tend to share, then it will be easier to create a connection with them though helping, discussing, helping promoting their own stuff and so on.

Doing so, which is not so immediate, is highly rewarding because the relation you will be able to create will be stronger, long-lasting and can lead to more opportunities than just a retweet.

And it will be better also because you will start a serendipitous chain.

I like having the key takeaways in an equation! Maybe you just laid down the blueprint for a new tool? :)

I'd be interested in hearing more about how people establish that personal (indirect) connection with an influencer. In other words, how do non-influencers make the most of their small personal networks and affiliations in order to find common ground with an influencer.

Of course, this has to be done without making it a stretch (i.e. My great aunt used to play bridge with your 3rd cousin who is also in the same LinkedIn group as me).

Maybe aligning your content with that influencer's goals is a enough to bridge the gap. But I'd love to hear if anyone has found ways to make the most of what they have from a networking perspective.

You Rock Brand again with WBF!! I am 2 days late to watch this. My Idea About Influencers are same as every single person are describing above, My approach to targeted customer is simple Give a valuable talk or a buzz to them two days in week dew to which they i can tie with my followings. ( As you said most influencers are friends and Seo peoples which i love to work with even my competitors plus - share -like my work some times :).

As the competition in getting the attention of the customers gets tightened, it's very important to know the right strategies in marketing our brand and stand out from others. Thanks for sharing this article Rand!

Nice topic Rand; it is a good idea to target the influencers of your niche so you can reach your target audience through them. Love this new idea. In that case we should also consider becoming an influencer too of our specific niches and write about other big brands too. It is important if you want to build a good relationship with other influencer.

First off, great insight as always. The Moz crew (and you especially Rand) have great energy around these topics and do a nice job (I'd say 90%) of the time of taking complex subject matter and making it easier to digest without over-simplifying it.

Couple of thoughts on the video:

1) It is absolutely fascinating to me how we need to be taught how to interact and connect with other humans. It's like we got online and we all forgot how to meet someone new, how to build a connection, etc. Now I will say there are some different "rules" online to social interaction often caused by the platforms available to us (meeting someone with only 140 characters can be quite difficult :) ), but the sad truth is I think it's more reflective of where we are socially and culturally as a society...but I digress.

2) As far as further the discussion goes, I believe that being rounded and passionate yourself can be HUGE when getting connected with an influencer. This won't matter all the time, because lets face it, some people are loving the power they get from being an influencer and prefer you connect with them in more of a lap-dog fashion. However, a truly powerful relationship can be created when two passionate people get together. I would argue that the "best" connection you can make comes when YOU are truly passionate about the subject you are trying to connect over and the "influencer" is also truly passionate about the subject matter, and has an inclusive rather than exclusive personality/bent to how they process their social world. Great influencers, I believe, care about the subject deeply and are excited to connect with others who are the same, no matter what their level of social "influence" or "importance" might be. These people..these are the ones that you can work with and create powerful things that may just turn YOU into an influencer.

Interesting subject most certainly and I appreciate you bringing in a bit of the practical side to helping people make those connections. I would encourage others to consider those suggestions as the tip of the iceberg, let your passion drive you and identify others who have that same passion. It's like gas on a fire.

I might include one thought, which to fundamentally disregard them being an influencer once you've distinguished them. As Gianluca says above they're a human before all else, and you may as well essentially be attempting to make a companion. If its all the same to you have the "payback" you'll not be making a companion yet working towards that favour you're proposing to ask, and, to be limit, you'll generally resemble somebody working the discussion towards asking that favour!

So be certified and you'll make a bona fide association and fellowship, yet on the informal organization just, and they will truly be intrigued by your connections and work - the outcome might be far greater and better...

New Look Of Rand!!! Seems you really becoming old now and the posts are showing your growing wisdom with that. I agree with your POV coz social media is a platform not meant for getting links all the time but to engage with ones buyer personas and if one starts the engagement with the intent of adding some value then it would automatically flow backwards to your own site. So we all see that SEO has to be long term play rather than a short term trick. It's better be like this as we all want a good experience when we visit any site ourselves.

Loved the last part when you said : "Of course I'll share it if we're friends in real life". That's totally my point of view too. I'll share it 90% of the time even if we were friend in elementary school and we haven't spoke since 20 years... (well, maybe not but you see the point).

Helping is in our DNA, well it's in mine. It reminds me of a quote I saw on a Bad Religion album : "Help me help you". That says a lot ;)

Wow! Rand, you make everything sound so easy to understand! Thank you for this week's edition of Whiteboard Friday. One question though, I thought there's going to be some guitar playing. Where's the guitar playing?

I was all about seeing Rand rocking out like the snap for the video! So disappointed. *heavy sigh*

I saw a recent HoA with Eric Enge and Mark Traphagen on this subject too. So very interesting. I agree with Tod McDonald's comment, that it's funny how as soon as we get online we somehow forget to meet and treat new people. We somehow forget our manners!

In today's times it's such an instant gratification kind of world. Everything is literally at your fingertips and can be delivered without ever leaving your house. People tend to take things far too much for granted, including relationships. Always looking for the "what's in it for me" perspective.

I too think it's far more important to be genuine and be yourself online. Interact with the people whose interests interest YOU, for their own sake. Not to get something out of it, or in return. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems everyone is looking for an angle.

Not sure what to think of the beard Rand, but great post. We definitely agree that personal connections are a huge part to getting your message heard and they are something that not many people take advantage of.

Rand - I would like to know from where I have to find these kind of influencers. For example; if I have a health related business so how I qualify someone to as an influencer for your business. Please suggest and thank you in advance :)

Rand you have explained each & every point so detail that it solved my problem too. I do look to earn influencer's in my niche. It is not easy task. we have to make good relationships with them. Relationships always work

that was an interesting WBF - all seems to be pretty clear, but sometimes you really don't think over some points, like how do people get information wich are not your followers - we have to think about it.

If Influencers has that potential on targeting customers were they can grow as well as their target on what to achieve. Just posting facebook , pinterest , twitter on right audience we reach the point .

It's also important to build a strong and valuable relationship with those influencers . They have to get to know you at least as what are your views in the industry before you can ask them to do something for you. Helpful video for understanding the process.

Very good WBF Rand. I am one of those whose target customers are hard to hook with my social media efforts. Your explanation is like a cross socialmediabuilding. Makes perfect sense. Thx for opening a new perspective of my social media targeting. Cheers :)

A nice and timely White Board Friday. In a week where people are talking about the death of outreach, it is nice to see how you should be looking at engaging with those who are influencers within your niche and what other benefits it can give you (outside the ranking increase).

Hello Rand, it seems like a whitebeard Friday! Are you planning to be the GANDALF of the community (just joking)? As always, great tips from you! But the last part of made me to think how to develop the relation at first. Suppose I want you to play the amplification factor for me. Then as per your advice, first I've to build a personal connection with you. How should I start that?

I agree with the topic you discussed. as I have now. very difficult to attract the interest of my buyers. as rivals increasingly difficult business. Therefore, now I am trying to further develop marketing through online media

I definitely think "ego-bating" works for attaining the right influencers. I guess the skill is to try and convince them that they found you, not you found them. If you're able to create that relevant connection, this may become a whole lot easier to do once you establish that connection. Making your work THEIR work simply goes hand-in-hand as long as you're able to convince them that you share the same goals and beliefs in the end like you said.

The equation that Rand presents is a really good one for determining the probability of your information being adopted by the influencer. Keep in mind that some of elements in the equation can be negative numbers. For example on relevance.... if the influencer that you are thinking about shares only news and has only shared news for the last five years, then approaching him/her trying to market a property or a product is going to fall really flat. As Rand points out, these people are really picky and negative relevance or even tangential relevance will likely be a deal breaker for them.

Just saying this to save you time. Study what your influencer does and does not share.

We have been doing this for awhile now, and it does help boost your rankings in Google. I think social signals are the future of the Algo going forward. Much harder to cheat. Just wish it was easier to prove to clients - Nice shag Rand.

I'm a huge proponent of asking specialists to contribute their research, data, thoughts, etc. to your content. It's a really awesome way to introduce and connect various members of the community that would have never met each other if it weren't for your united content.

Not only that, but it will definitely have broad outreach because you can bet that all of them will share it with their followers.

Totally agree with Twitter being used almost unanimously by influencers. I've recently started to get back into it and can attest to its amazing social power.

Great WBF, as always. Really relevant to what my focus was this week, in terms of personal and professional.